I got what I thought was deal on a Delta Midi LA200 lathe last week. A week later and I want to change belt speeds but the tension adjusting bracket appears to be damaged and there are no replacements available that I know of after searching on-line. Basically the slot is not concentric for the locking bolt, and therefore the bolt will only lock if the bracket is secured beneath the locking bolt not bolt inside slot. I cannot take advantage of the higher speeds only 500 rpm. (if I described the problem correctly) I was thinking of using a mini grinder and cutting the proper curved slot out so the the bolt and washer stay within the slot, thereby locking the bracket as originally designed. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks, I know this is my first post but I really want to begin making some chips.

1 reply so far

I have a lot of problem moving the belt to and from the low speed on mine – seems there isn’t really enough room between the pulley and the back of the headstock for the belt. Even after I am able to wrangle the belt onto the slow speed it wants to sand off the back of the belt for a while. Maybe the belts available for it now are thicker than the originals? I’m thinking about taking a grinding wheel to that part of the headstock to see if I can’t get a little more clearance in that area – hate chewing up new belts and I need to use the slow speed quite often.

A picture of your lathe would help me see what you’re talking about a little clearer. Anyway, from the way I am understanding it from your description, you should be able remove the bolt on the front of the motor bracket (where you adjust the tension on the belt) and then put a wedge under the motor to raise it up while you wrangle the belt off the slow speed on the pulley. Then, you can put the bolt back in and should be able to tension it to whatever speed you have moved to.

If you need a new motor bracket you might try to find someone in your area that has a Jet JML-1014 or JWL-1220 (maybe a Rockler or Woodcraft might have one set up) and check out the motor brackets on them and compare to yours. If the size and the holes match up to the Delta then Jet still has the motor brackets available for about $15 from eReplacementparts.com